It's Complicated, Maximum Ride
by Fallenbeyondbelief
Summary: A new girl of the same breed unexpectedly walks into the flocks life and takes everyone by surprise...Ecspecially Maximum Ride
1. Chapter 1

**(Disclaimer: I do not own the masterpiece Maximum Ride, just the main character, Legend.)**

**Hey anyone out there who actually **_**wants**_** to read something I wrote! This is just an experiment, so please, **_**please**_** review and tell me your opinions! It would make me feel all warm and fuzzy inside! P.S. I'm a beginner, so I would love some constructive criticism! P.S.S. Is it P.S.S. or P.P.S.? Oh well *shrug***

**~ Bee**

"Okay, we're going to put this IV in you all right, Legend?" The doctor standing over me whispered. She had very pale skin and short black hair down her chin. Her face was round with deep dimples on her cheeks.

"Now count backwards from 100 and you'll fall asleep," She murmured softly rubbing my forearm.

"Okay…100…99…98…97…," I started counting down, losing track of the numbers around 95. My eyesight became hazy and my hearing faded. My vision went black as I quickly slipped into unconsciousness.

"Are you sure you did it right? Why isn't she waking up? Shouldn't she be awake by now? It's been three days!" A voice rang in and out of my hearing, sounding like it was talking on a phone. I was so peaceful; I didn't want anyone to bother me. I was in my own little world, completely alone.

"Hmmmfmmmmmhmmmmm," I muttered, trying to roll over. My back ached as if someone had stabbed six knives into my shoulders and twirled them around in there. It took my breath away and I froze mid-movement, shocked from the pain. Tears welled up in my eyes and I felt as if I would puke from the pain.

"Hold on, she's waking up," said the voice, coming closer to me. "Hey honey, how are you?"

It took a while to process what it said, and that it was directed towards me. I couldn't move, or another wave of nausea would flow over me. "Hmmmmm," I mumbled. "It hurts,"

"Oh! I'm sorry, here, I'll help you," She said, putting one hand in the middle of my back and one on my shoulder, slowly lowering me back to the bed.

"My back," I choked, eyes still closed.

"Oh yes, sorry, let me put you on your stomach," She said, rolling me the other way, onto my front side. "I'm so happy you're awake, I was so worried that you were dead, or in a coma or something," she smiled at me and squeezed my arm. "The surgery was a success. You look amazing,"

"Surgery? I thought that it was just a test, to see if I could even _have_ a surgery!" I cried.

"Yes, we _did_ the tests, and took notes, and then we went right on with the surgery. I knew that you could handle it. But it took about twelve hours," she said.

"What kind of surgery?' I questioned, opening my eyes and gazing at my mother, standing above me.

"Well…it was kind of an experiment," she shrugged, as if it was nothing.

"_What kind of experiment?_" I demanded.

"Well…it was a scientific expirement," she blushed and left the room.

_Scientific?_

I'm a freak, I thought, glaring into the body sized mirror hanging on the bright white wall. It was actually the _only_ thing on the wall. How could she do this to me? What did I do to deserve this?

"I'm a freak!" I screamed at the woman standing behind me.

My Mother. She didn't even deserve that title. She gave me up to scientific experimentation!

"No you aren't," she cooed, rubbing her hands up and down my arms, an attempt to comfort me. "You're special. There is no one else like you."

I rolled my shoulders to loosen the soreness and she dropped her arms, peering around the large misfits sprouting off my back to look my reflection in the eye.

"That's because I have freaking wings!"

She flinched at my volume, but kept a dumb smile on her face.

"W-why?" I questioned, tears welling up in my eyes.

"Because," she said simply, pivoting to face the other side of the white room.

"Couldn't you have given my super speed? Or spidy powers?" I questioned, refusing to let her ignore me.

My mom and I used to be like best friends. We would do everything together and I could tell her everything. I saw no reason why she would give me up to scientific experimentation. It hurt my heart to think that she just didn't care what happened to me. _Come on, Le. Be strong. There is no need for tears. She betrayed you_, I thought_._

"I'm sorry, honey," She said, still not facing me."But, there is something else I should tell you…something more important,"

"What?" I demanded.

"I didn't actually give birth to you. I donated an egg and the scientists here altered your DNA, giving you bird bones, you know, really light, fragile bones, and air sacs, but they made sure that your wings never grew. I don't know how. They wanted to see if it was possible to surgically grow the wings when you were almost fully developed, at the point where you were close to being fully grown. Thirteen was the age they wanted to go with." I was silent, letting this all soak in…Who was my father? Why did my mom do this? Why hadn't I been told this when I was younger? I was on the verge of cracking, about to explode. I had always been petite. My whole life, I looked anorexic. But the bones and air sacs explained why, at thirteen years old, I only weighed 80 pounds.

"I can't believe you!" I screamed. "I thought I could trust you to understand how I feel, but you just proved me wrong!" I stomped to the door, flinging it out of my way. Yes, I get angry fast, but now I had a reason. I ran down the hallway, my bare feet slapping the floor with every step I took. I couldn't hold it anymore. I wanted to be reckless, I wanted to be bad, and I wanted to be away from this place.

I bolted around the corner, but stopped dead in my tracks. There, at the end of the hallway stood the most beautiful boy I had ever seen in my life. He was standing next to two scientists staring into space with a blank look on his face.

He was tall, even from far away, and pale. He looked like an angel. His hair was a blondish color, hanging slightly in his eyes. His eyes, though, were his most interesting feature. They looked blue from my distance, and, with my amazing eyesight like a hawk, I could see a glaze over them. Ah, so he was blind. That made sense why the two scientists were looking at me and he wasn't. I bet they thought I was mental or something. After all, this was a hospital/institute thing, there were mental people here.

The boys' gray shirt hung over his jeans and emphasized the toned muscles of his torso. I glanced at his black sneakers, very similar to the ones I had left in my hospital room.

I wanted to meet him, obviously, I mean, who wouldn't? But I had something to do. I had to escape this hell hole.

I sauntered down the hallway, listening to little scuff noise my too long jeans made as the scraped the floor. The tile under my feet sent chills up my spine and goose bumps raised on my arms. My baggy yellow t-shirt wasn't enough to stifle the freeze.

I walked up to the scientists and crossed my arms, clearing my throat.

"Um, excuse me? Can you point me to the exit?" I tapped on a scientists shoulder. He was short and wide, stubby.

"Are you supposed to be out of your room, young lady?" He questioned, crossing his arms.

"Are you supposed out of_ your_ room, old man?" I mocked, crossing _my _arms.

I could hear the boy stifle a laugh as I stared down the scientist.

"Okay, it's time for you to go back to your room. You aren't fully healed yet. Just stay here for a second, okay?" He and his partner walked to a little counter and started talking to the secretary.

"Hi," I said, and the boy turned his head to me, still blind. He seemed a bit awkward, but who knew?

"Um…hi…?" He answered, unsure if he could trust me, probably.

"It's okay, I'm like you," I whispered, trying to comfort him, not sure what being _like_ him meant.

"You are?" He questioned, ducking down to my height.

"Well…I might be…I mean, I'm a kind of experiment product, you too?" I was curious about him; he looked like he had a secret.

"Excuse me, young lady, it's time for you to return to your room now," The scientist shouted from the desk before he could answer.

"Are they holding you here?" I questioned.

"Yeah, I guess that's one way to think of it." He laughed

"Well, me too. It was nice to meet you. Do you have a name?" I asked.

He hesitated a little, but said, "Iggy, you?"

"No, my name isn't Iggy," I chuckled. "Bye, see you tomorrow," I reached down and grabbed his hand, he flinched at the touch, and I shook it.

"Come on!" the scientist yelled, grabbing me by the elbow and dragging me in the direction of my room. I turned my neck as I stumbled down the hall. He had his pinky slung through a slightly taller boys' belt loop. The other boy had shaggy black hair, was wearing a black shirt, black jeans, and black sneakers. He had a frown on his face as he walked the opposite direction I was, dragging Iggy, talking away, behind him. I giggled at him, and he smiled a little before he turned the corner.

**What did you think? Great? Terrible? Boring? Please, please, please review! Wow…I wonder how many times I said please…Six? Seven? Oh well, I'm just a little giddy…**

**~Bee**


	2. Chapter 2

"Why can't I go home?" I complained the next day.

"Well, honey, we don't have a home," My mom said sadly. "There was a huge fire at our house when I brought you here about a week ago. It burnt the whole house down," she sniffed.

"Oh, suuuuuure…" I said, doubting that phony excuse. "How long will it take for my wings to fully heal?"

"A few weeks, three at the most," my mom said, distractedly picking at her sweater.

"Why do I have to stay in this little room then? Isn't there a large room down two halls where they hold the recoveries? Can't I stay there?"

"I guess. Hold on," She stalked out of the room and I could hear her heals echoing down the hall.

Yes! I could at least not feel like an experiment. I could interact with other kids. And possibly see Iggy more. I am a genius.

I ran around the room picking up my sneakers, my other clothes, a blanket, and stuffed it all in my backpack. I slung it over my shoulder and cringed in pain as it hit my healing wing. They were sore and painful, but they folded perfectly into the very slight indents running down my back, wing shaped.

"Okay, here you go, young lady," said a very tiny doctor lady that looked like a pixie. She patted the neatly made covers of a twin sized bed that was going to be mine while I recovered. I would have thought that being a scientific experiment would have been worse, like, I would be _chained_ to the bed or put in a cage so I didn't run away.

I quickly scanned over the large room with scattered beds everywhere. There were two exits; both were large and metal with padlocks and two security guards. Two windows were placed on the wall farthest from my bed and had closely placed metal bars on them. I take it back; it's like a _community_ cage.

_This ought to be good_, I thought.

"Are you all set? Do you need anything?" The doctor asked, looking at me as if I was an animal in the zoo.

"No, I'm fine, thanks," I spat, wanting her to leave.

"Are you sure?" She asked.

"I'm _fine_," I repeated, thinking _please leave me alone now._

"Oh, all right then," She cleared her throat and walked away awkwardly.

I set my backpack on the floor next the head board and lay down on the bed. I was exhausted because I hadn't slept since the operation which was probably 30 hours ago. I just wanted to sleep, but my aching wings refused to let me.

Fine, I thought, be that way. I swung my legs off the bed on rubbed my eyes. I guess I might as well take a walk and familiarize myself with my surroundings. I strolled around the room, taking everything in. I wasn't the only up and walking around, so I felt a little more comfortable.

Then I spotted him. Iggy. He was sitting on a bed that was probably twenty away from mine. There were five more next to it that each had a person sitting/laying on them. Next to Iggy was the boy I had seen walking him back to the room yesterday. Next to him was a little boy that looked about eight or nine year's old, with blond hair and bright blue eyes. The bed by the little boy was empty and the next to that had a girl that looked about 14 or 15 with blond hair talking to a little girl with blond hair as well who looked kind of like the little boy but about two years younger. The last bed held a girl with caramel brown skin and dark hair who was probably eleven.

It was shocking how aware and on guard they looked. I bet they didn't like being confined. The dark boy was looking at me with a weird look on his face. Confusion, anger, concern, boredom, more anger. He probably didn't like the fact that I might pose a potential threat to them and I had interacted with Iggy. Interesting…

I strolled closer to them, my feet slapping the tile floor similar to yesterday in the hallway. I saw Iggy's head rise up and a smile appear on his face. The rest of the kids tensed up as he recognized the sound of my feet. He leaned over and whispered something to the dark boy. The boy relaxed somewhat, but still looked concerned.

"Um, hey, Iggy," I said, stopping a few feet from them.

"Hi," He said simply.

"Legend,"

"What?" He sounded confused.

"My name is Legend," I explained.

"Oh, well hello, Legend," He chuckled. It was a nice sound.

"Would you like to take a walk with me?"

"Um, sure," he said, standing up. The dark boy stood up with him, clearly not trusting me.

"Its okay, Fang. She's not going to hurt me," he whispered. "I don't think." That made the other boy, Fang, stiffen up.

"Um, it's okay. You don't have to, I just thought, maybe, we could talk a little" I murmured, kind of disappointed, and turned around. I started to walk back to my bed, when a large hand grabbed my elbow.

"I would love to," Iggy whispered in my ear. I felt his pinky ever so lightly slip into my side belt loop on my jeans.

We walked around the community cage for an hour. He told me the names of his little group of friends, who he considers his siblings, even though the little boy and girl were the only ones actually related. The dark boy was Fang, the older blond girl was Max, the girl with caramel skin was Nudge, and the smallest ones were the Gasman or Gazzy, and Angel.

I explained how my mom had really donated me to scientific experimentation and didn't care. He said that all of their parents had given them to science, but we never said what the experimentation had made us. It was kind of a light subject.

"How come you're here?" I questioned. "I mean, at this place,"

"Well, Max's dad works here and we needed a place to hunker down. He wouldn't let us just go on our own, so he let us stay here. We are still convinced it's for different reasons other than that he cares about us, but we get free food, and an actual bed, so we can deal with the downs for a while, but we have to leave soon. It's getting a little too overwhelming," He sounded sad.

"God, I wish I could leave. I've only been here a week and I can't take it anymore," I complained.

"What did they do to you?" He asked suddenly. I wasn't expecting him to want to know that.

"They, um… Well it would be easier to show you," I said, then quickly added, "Theoretically ,"and he chuckled as I referred to his blindness.

"Why can't you tell me?" He chuckled.

"Well, it would just be easier to give you an example," I shrugged.

I could feel his sibling's eyes boring into us. They have been cautiously keeping an eye on us for the past hour. I led him over to one of the doors, ready to lie my butt off to get us out of this room.

"Excuse me-"I started, but the security guard opened the door and said, "Be back in fifteen minutes Iggy,"

Iggy blushed, but said, "Always am."

"So, you have connections, I see." I chuckled, sliding my arm through his.

"Well that's what you get for practically being related to a scientist. And they have gates, guards, and electric fences to keep everyone in the yard." He explained.

"Okay, sounds good."

I walked out of the back door into a very large, secluded, back yard. There was no one out there and it was surrounded by trees.

I sat on the ground and he sat in front of me. I let him put his hand on my knee, probably reassuring him that she was still there.

"Legend, what do you look like?" he asked. I hesitated, but who would it hurt, right?

"Pale skin. Five inches shorter than you. Big green eyes. Sometimes I have dimples when I smile, it depends on if it's a real smile or a genuine 'I don't give a crap' smile," I paused, feeling a little embarrassed about describing myself. "Um, black hair that is almost to my waist. I'm underweight, but I have muscle. Dark gray jeans and black Converse. Baggy black shirt."

I let him create a mental picture of me for a while.

"I know what you are," He whispered.

"You do?" I asked and he nodded, smiling. But I still wanted to theoretically "show" him. Slowly, so slowly, I unfurled my sore and painful wings. He seemed to know what was going on, and he shifted himself so he could run his hand along them. I winced at the touch; they weren't fully ready for flight or much movement. He felt me wince and pulled his hand back. He didn't say anything, but I saw something move behind him. Slower than I had, he unfurled his wings. I knew, somehow, that we had something big in common earlier; I just couldn't put my finger on it. I gasped, but reached my hand out and stroked his wings. I pulled mine in and dropped my hand.

They were cream colored, glistening in the dull moonlight. I'm sure that mine weren't as pretty as his. After all, I had just gotten them a few days ago. Mine were still growing into my body, and awkwardly trying to adjust. His were silky and mine were still rough. His were an attractive, solid, off-white color, and mine were gray, with jagged black stripes.

"I told you I know what you are," he said.

"Because we are the same thing, except brought up differently. I was an experiment to see if it was possible to delay the growth of wings 'til a later age. They still haven't come in fully yet." I sighed, and he pulled his wings in.

"Legend?" Iggy asked, placing his hand on my knee.

"Yes, Iggy?"

"Would you like to come with me?" He questioned.

"Where?" I asked, confused.

"Away from here,"

I hesitated, but thought of spending time with Iggy and the rest of them. I gently grabbed his elbow and whispered, "I would love to."


	3. Chapter 3

**Sorry it took so long to update, I was very busy the past few weeks, and I just had my birthday yesterday. *Sigh* Anyway, I don't own the amazing masterpiece that is Maximum Ride, only the character Legend. Just a short little chapter…**

"I have a feeling that you should break the news to your flock by yourself. They might not like that you've only known me for two days, and now you want to take me with you to God knows where." I said.

"That's a smart idea," he agreed.

"Would you like me to lead you over there?" I joked, but still a little concerned for his blindness.

"Your lack of confidence in me because of my blindness is a little insulting." He chuckled. "But, that would be nice."

I chuckled with him and linked my arm through his. I lead him over to his flock, worried that they would disapprove of me.

"Bye, Iggy," I said and rocked on to my tip toes to kiss his cheek.

"Bye, Legend," He chuckled, blushing.

I waved a tiny wave to his flock and stalked off to my bed. It was nearly dark and everyone was flying around preparing for sleep.

I lay down on top of my sheets and closed my eyes, ready to sleep.

_I'm in a dream_, I thought, but I knew what it really was. _A memory_… I was in karate class, following the teacher's swift kicks and powerful punches. I leapt up and twirled in a circle, kicking the stuffed person in front of me, and landing back down on my toes. I laughed as the group of girls, around my age, eight or nine, behind me applauded.

Suddenly, a tiny fist connected with my face and I was on the ground. Stacey Lucie was standing over me, her strawberry blonde hair hanging in her face. Her nostrils were flaring and she was glaring down at me. I kicked her feet out from under her and climbed on top of it.

I hit her square in the nose and she cried out in pain. I hit her again and again until the teacher came and lifted me off of her by my armpits. The group of girls applauded again and surrounded me, laughing and smiling and asking me how I was so good. I laughed with them and left Stacey bleeding on the blue matted floor.

_Dang,_ I thought_, I kick ass_.

Iggy and I walked and talked everyday for the next week, learning more about each other. He never introduced me to his flock and we remained sleeping on different sides of the room. It was on the eighth day that I got a rude awakening.

"Le! Le," Iggy whispered, shaking me awake.

"What?" I murmured.

"We're leaving. Do you still want to come?" He asked. It hurt me that he thought I might not.

"Yeah, but, are we going to have to fly?"

"Probably, why?"

"My wings aren't in shape for that yet. I can barely move them without crying out in pain." I didn't want to be a burden.

"We won't have to fly for a few days," He reassured me.

"Okay, hold on," I murmured, fishing around for my bag.

"I've got your bag."

"What time is it?"

"Midnight,"

I got off my bed and smiled. He had bed head. I took my backpack and slung my arm through his. He smiled as he felt my touch. "They are already waiting in the hall. Gazzy and I took care of the guards."

"Let's go," I said.

**What did you think, good? Bad? Please review!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Fang: *Whispering* Can I do it?**

**Me: *Whispering* No! It's **_**my**_** story.**

**Fang: But I'm in it!**

**Me: Too bad, I get to do it.**

**Fang: B-but-**

**Me: Hola, small amount of people reading this story.**

**Fang: *Murmuring* **_**Very**_** small amount…**

**Me: That's it! Time out! Go sit in the corner!**

**Fang: But-**

**Me: Time. Out.**

**Fang: (Stomps to a corner and sits down)**

**Me: Anyway! Here is a bright and happy disclaimer-**

**Fang: She doesn't own Maximum Ride!**

**Me: Excuse me, but I was talking, young lady!**

**Fang: *Whispering to himself* Young lady? **_**What**_**?**

**Me: Excuse Fnick, he's a bit cranky because he overreacts about everything and I stepped on his toe earlier.**

**Fang: I don't overreact!**

**Me: Whatever. *Sigh* Where was I? Oh, yeah. I don't Maximum Ride, James Patterson does, but I do, however, own a certain character named Legend, so if you think of stealing her… *Dramatic music***

**Fang: Just get on with the story!**

**Me: Hey, I never said you could get out of time out!**

**Fang: You're not my mother.**

**Me: *Deathly glare***

**Fang: Okay, okay, I'll go to the corner…**

**Me: Okay, here is the fourth chapter of my little experiment, hope you like it, whoever, might be reading this…**

"Hi, I'm Legend," I said, standing in front of the five other kids in Iggy's flock.

"I'm Angel!" yelled the little girl flashing me a huge smile and waving.

"Hi, I'm Nudge. I'm glad you're coming with us. Do you know that Iggy really likes you? I don't think that he really ever liked anyone. I think it's a good thing you're coming with us. Can you fly? I can! Want to see?" Max put her hand over Nudges mouth and gave a quick smile. I glanced up at Iggy. He was blushing so much that he looked like a tomato.

"I'm Gazzy!" said the little boy. So far it was going better than I thought.

"Hey, I'm Max," said the oldest girl, shaking my free hand, even though she looked very, very nervous and twitchy.

"Fang," said the tall, dark boy, crossing his arms and walking away.

"I'm sorry about him," Max said.

"It's okay," I said.

We all just walked through the front doors, completely in the open. There was a shiny black SUV sitting in the parking lot, obviously not any of theirs. The three little ones piled in the way back chattering away to each other. "Can I drive?" Iggy asked, completely serious.

"No, Iggy. You cannot drive," Max said, sounding like she's said it more than once.

"I'm driving," Fang chimed in, still frowning.

"Does he ever smile?" I whispered to Iggy.

"Probably. Maybe. I don't think so. Maybe not." He said, chuckling.

Iggy and I got in the middle of the car and Fang and Max got the front.

"How come I can't drive?" Iggy complained. I chuckled.

"Maybe because you're _blind_," said Max, shrugging.

"Well!" Iggy gasped, putting his hand to his chest. "Don't let Gazzy know. He would be devastated!"

"You're _blind_?" Gazzy gasped. "How come you never told me?"

"_I_ didn't even know until now. It was a surprise to me too!" Iggy laughed, turning to face Gazzy.

I loved this already.

"MAAAX! GAZZY'S TOUCHING ME!" Nudge screamed.

I turned around to see Gazzy reaching over Angel to stick his hand on Nudge's face. She was slapping Gazzy over Angel and Angel looked completely bored.

"Gazzy, knock it off! Nudge, stop yelling!" Max said and they automatically stopped and shut up. It was amazing how much control she had over them.

It continued like that for hours. I didn't know where we were going, or if Max and Fang knew either. All I knew was that we were far away from the institute, we were having a pretty good time except for the occasional arguments, and I liked these people like family already.

"Iggy," I said, laying my head on his shoulder.

"Yeah?"

"I'm glad I met you," I murmured.

"Me, too," he agreed, taking my right hand in both of his.


	5. Chapter 5

**Hey, sorry that I haven't updated in a while, but school started and I haven't had much free time. I don't, sadly, own Maximum Ride, just Legend. And thank you, everyone who reviewed, you're the **_**BEST.**_

"Max?" Gazzy's sweet voice rang through the silence.

"Yeah, honey?" She answered, staring at the dark road in front of her.

"I think we're being followed," He said simply.

"Why would you think that?"

"Because that blue van has been behind us for thirty miles," he murmured groggily.

"Oh God," Max murmured, staring straight ahead. "Okay, I'm going to crash this thing, then up and away, 'kay guys?"

The rest of the flock was automatically tensed and ready saying things like "Finally" and "I knew this would happen, we never have two days where we aren't being hunted", and I thought of what up and away meant. Superheroes always said it before they flew away, so I had a feeling I would be taking a test flight today. It had only been six days since the surgery, but my wings were almost fully healed.

Max sped up the SUV and the van behind us sped up too. Suddenly I was smashed into a window, my head like a hammer shattering glass all over Iggy and me. The car swerved and came to a jerking stop, on its side, at the base of a very large tree.

"Up and away!" Max yelled, pulling Gazzy out of a broken window. Angel and Nudge squirmed out and snapped their wings out, pulling them upward. Fang leaped out of a window and screamed, "Two feet left, then up at twelve o'clock!"

Iggy nodded and moved quickly to where a shattered window was above him and shot out of it. I followed his swift movements and hopped onto the car's side. I low snarling sounded behind me and glanced over to see several half man/half dog things running at me. With a small shriek, I jumped up at the sky and pulled out my wings. A snap of pain in my back soon flooded into pure heat and adrenaline, followed by a searing pain in my leg. A dog thing had shredded my left ankle with its claws. With a swift move, I kicked it in the face with the power of a truck. It flew to the ground, clutching his nose.

I laughed and pumped my wings three times, pulling me high into the air. I shot myself forward and positioned myself right over Iggy. I tapped him in between his wings and I heard a sigh escape his lips. I couldn't tell if it was a sigh of relief, or not.

"Nice kick," Gazzy marveled, arranging himself so he was above me. I held up my hand and he slapped it.

"I didn't think you could make it out alive. Those erasers are pretty nasty when they want to be." Angel chimed in, flying over Gazzy. Max shot her a look when she doubted my life.

"What did you call them?" I asked.

"Erasers. Another science experiment, meant to destroy us," she said. "So far, they haven't succeeded."

"I can see that," I laughed.

We flew for an hour straight and my wings felt as if I had had them my whole life. I could feel myself slipping, though. I had a gaping wound in my ankle; the jean around the area was shredded. And, during the crash, some of the glass had sliced the skin behind my ear. Both were pretty deep, and if I didn't speak up soon, I would probably bleed out. The thing was, I didn't want to be a burden to the flock, slow them down or irritate them. After all, they didn't _have_ to keep me with them.

"Um, guys?" I said quietly. They all looked at me as best as they could, expecting me to go on. "Are we going to stop anytime soon?"

I expected them to reject the idea, or stay silent and ignore me, but instead, they agreed.

"Yeah," said Nudge." I'm hungry. And I want to take my shoes off. Being in a car for 24 hours is terrible."

"I would like to stop for a while too," chimed Angel.

"Me too," agreed Gazzy.

"Sure, I guess," Max muttered, staring down below us, trying to find a place to stop.

"How about right there," I pointed to a clearing that had a large river running through it.

"Yeah, that looks good," She smiled at me and started descending towards the spot. She didn't look happy about it though.

We hit the ground one by one, me last. Once my feet touched the ground, fatigue flooded over me and I sat right down, stretching my wings behind me. I touched my pinky to my ear and felt a sticky liquid drip onto my hand. I pulled it away and I saw the deep red blood slithering on to my wrist. I quickly glance down to my ankle and gasped. It was worse than I thought and as soon as I laid my eyes on it, it started to throb. The wound was blackish red and dripping blood onto the dark green grass.

I've had multiple wounds before, broken legs, sprained wrists, black eyes, large cuts, but nothing as bad as this.

"Oh God," Nudge gasped, putting her hand on her mouth. Max looked over here and told the three little ones to start tearing strips off of their clothes. They didn't hesitate; they just started tearing the baggy sweatshirts they had on.

"No!" I objected, taking off my sweatshirt. "Don't destroy your coats, use this," I threw it at Gazzy and he caught it like it was nothing. They didn't hesitate, just started tearing the thing into strips. Max and Iggy walked over to me and knelt at my side. Iggy ran his fingers along my ankle with a feather light touch.

"Hurry up!" Max yelled, and Angel handed her a stack of black strips.

Max started wrapping the strips around my ankle and tying them tight. Iggy held my knee and smiled as he felt me tense up.

"Okay, you're all wrapped up," Max said, standing up.

"I'm sorry about this. I don't want to slow you guys down. But for curiosity's sake, where are we going? What are we doing?" Max flinched as I said "we".

"We're going to save the world," Fang said, leaning against a tree.

"We haven't had the greatest luck these past few months," Nudge murmured.

"That is quite a large mission…" I chuckled, but quickly pulled myself together. "Could you use another hand?"

I met everyone's eyes, but they stayed silent. I stared down at my hands, caked with blood, and shook my head. I started to speak up, but Max interrupted.

"I'm not one to kick people out on the curb," she whispered, shrugging. "Of course we could use your help. You can fight, right?"

"I've taken nine karate classes, two MMA lessons, six years of gymnastics and I've been in 14 school fights. I think I can handle myself," I chuckled and Max turned around, walking to help Angel with a broken zipper.

Fang started to walk towards the edge of the woods, completely silent. I stood up and limped over to him.

"What are you doing?" I whispered, making him jump as I silently approached his back.

"Uh, finding wood for fire," he whispered back.

"Let me help," I said, picking up a very large, dry stick. He actually cracked a smile. "You don't talk much, do you?"

"Um, no, not really," he said, picking up three sticks, grinning for once.

` We each had an arm full of sticks and chunks of wood when we broke through the tree line and back into the clearing.

Max was sitting cross legged on the ground with Angel's sleeping head in her lap, stroking her hair. Gazzy and Iggy were talking and Gazzy was rubbing his hands together. Nudge was up in a tree doing something that I didn't want to know about.

"Got wood," I said, dropping in a pile on the ground.

"Good," Gazzy said, cackling maniacally.

Iggy punched him in arm and walked towards me, kicking his feet until he found the pile of wood. He lifted some and arranged it perfectly in the middle of the clearing. Gazzy pulled out a lighter from his pocket and a few old pieces of paper and lit the fire.

We all gathered around, Angel still in Max's lap, Gazzy sitting close to her, Nudge was curled up next to Max. I sat with my head on Iggy's shoulder and fang was on my other side, a few feet away.

"I'll take first shift," Max said, shifting under Angel. There was a silent agreement around the rest of us.

Iggy put his arm around me and leaned back against a stray tree. I sighed and closed my eyes, cuddling closer to Iggy.

I was running. I knew exactly where I was running, too. I was running down pathway in the woods behind my old house.

There was something behind me. I didn't know if it was a shadow or a person or an animal. All I know is that it was chasing me. My feet pounded down on the ground and splashed mud up onto my ankles.

Rain slipped through the leaves above me and slapped my face as I ran. Rocks and twigs dug into the bottom of my feet, but I kept going. If I stopped now, that thing behind my back would get me. I quickly glanced behind me, but found the ground rushing at me.

I had tripped over a large rock and sliced my foot open on the top. It was bleeding very heavily. I was lying in a huge mud puddle and the thing was still running me.

I let out a scream and everything went black.

**Did you like it? Please, please, please, please, PLEASE review! Love you guys!**


	6. Chapter 6

**Iggy:****Hola, gente de la tierra y más allá. Estoy Iggy, por cierto.**

**Me: *Raise eyebrows* Where did you learn to speak Spanish?**

**Iggy: That was Spanish?**

**Me: Yeah, it was…**

**Iggy: Hmm, I thought it was German… Oh well! Get on with the story! What do I get to do in this episode of "Iggy's Life"? *Hand gestures* **

**Me: First, It's called "It's Complicated, Maximum Ride," And second, you're relationship with Legend is starting to blossom.**

**Iggy: Ooh, scandalous!**

**Legend: What's going on? I heard my name and demand an explanation. *Sits in Iggy's lap***

**Me: You and Iggy are slowly becoming more of a couple. We are discussing the story.**

**Legend: Ah, but let me guess, we don't, like, become an actual couple until the later chapters. Like chapter 12 or 13…**

**Me: Have you been reading over my shoulder?**

**Legend: No, I'm a figment of your imagination. It's like it's a movie, and I'm the star. I've been filmed, so I know exactly what's going to happen. For instance, we- *Iggy puts his hand over her mouth***

**Me: Anyway! I don't own Maximum Ride, just the character Legend, no stealing her!**

**Legend: Okay, I'm not an object, you can't just claim me.**

**Me: Like you said, you're just a figment of my imagination, so you can't do anything about it.**

**Iggy: Let's get on with this story before I lock you to in cages.**

**Legend: That'd be fun…**

I flinched and my eyes fluttered open. _Another memory_, I thought. My head was in Iggy's lap and he was stroking my hair, listening for anything coming. He was on his shift. I sat up and leaned against his side. _Why were my memories playing out in my dreams_? I thought.

"Does it suck?" I asked, looking at the side of Iggy's face.

"Yeah, not being able to see sucks really badly. But I've adapted to it. Mostly," he said, wrapping his arm around my shoulder and pulling me closer. I sighed and Max stirred in her sleep and opened her eyes. Suddenly Fang opened his eyes, then Nudge, Gazzy, and last, Angel.

I chuckled and everyone stretched and yawned. They were like dominos.

"Where to today, boss?" I asked Max as she stood up

"Arizona," she said.

"Why?" I asked.

"Max's mom lives there," Angel said groggily.

"What about your dad?" I asked Max.

"Max doesn't like to talk about that," Iggy whispered so quietly in my ear I almost couldn't hear him.

Max didn't say anything, just paced and looked through her backpack for something.

I pulled Iggy to his feet and grabbed my bag. "Here, I stole some granola bars from the Institute. Take 'em," I tossed a bunch of granola bars at Max and she caught them all, though they scattered in the air. She peeled one open and sniffed it. She took a bite of one carefully, testing it. She nodded then threw them at everyone.

We ate in silence and soon we were up in the air again. I was feeling amazing as we soared through the sky. I smiled as I pumped my wings, pure feather and strength. There is no other feeling like flying. It's peaceful and second-nature and feels like home. It is the best feeling ever.

Max said we were somewhere In Ohio and we weren't going to straight to her mom's house. She said that we were going to stop in Kansas. After that, we flew in silence until Fang announced that we had to land. We dropped down to the trees, maneuvering through the leaves and branches.

I pulled my wings in and dropped the few feet of space between me and the ground. I stopped and waited until Max, Fang, and Iggy walked in front of me.

We walked through the forest searching for a place to settle down for the night, whispering among ourselves. We all stopped as a rundown little building appeared in front of us.

"Hmm, it looks like an old motel," Nudge murmured, walking up towards.

"Excuse me, we don't know what this place is yet," Max said, pulling Nudge back by her elbow. Max walked up to the little glass door and shoved it. It broke from its hinges and collapsed to the ground, shattering. "Oops," she murmured, stepping over the glass and into a dusty lobby.

"Guys, it's safe. Completely abandoned," she called, walking up a rickety staircase. I grabbed Iggy's hand and towed him along as we all entered the motel.

"Okay, no beds," Max said, hopping off the last step of the stairs. "Just couches and chairs."

"No wonder this place went out of business," Angel said, kicking at a crack in the wall.

"Hmm, this place might look nice if they had a different color scheme than gray," I muttered.

"What time is it?" Nudge said absentmindedly.

"Who knows," Gazzy said squinting at a strange book sitting on a desk.

"Well it's dark outside," I muttered.

"Yeah, someone find a light switch," Max said, dragging her hand along a table top. Fang walked behind her, dragging his hand just like she did. I leaned against a wall, but something jabbed into my back. I looked behind me and found a light switch sticking out of the wall. I flicked it up and the lobby was suddenly filled with bright, fluorescent lighting.

"What the heck?" Gazzy asked, honestly confused. "Is it voice activated? Make me a sandwich!" He yelled to the ceiling.

"No, Gaz, Legend found a light switch," Nudge said, punching him in the arm playfully.

"There are five couches upstairs, disperse," Max said, gesturing. I towed Iggy up the stairs praying that he didn't end up tumbling down them.

There was a large room with five long couches arranged in a circle. Fang sprawled across one of them and Max took the one next to him. I plopped down on the far end of the couch farthest from the dusty window. I pulled my knees up to my chest and leaned against the arm of the couch, smiling as Iggy sat down next to me.

I set my feet in his lap and stretched out so I was lying down. I clenched my toes and flinched when they all cracked. I pointed my feet and rolled my ankles around, trying to relieve the pain. My many years of running, not to mention barefoot and through the woods, have killed my feet. They were scared and calloused and cramping up.

Iggy absentmindedly started messaging my right foot. I sighed and closed my eyes, letting the pain flood out of my feet. I fell into a deep sleep, blissful and comfortable.

_Another memory/dream… Damn it_. I was standing in the long hallway at my old house, the coffee brown carpet rubbing against the pale blue fabric of my pajama pants. I had on a light pink tank top that fit snug over my torso. I remember when this was… this was three years ago, on September 8, the day before school started.

I tiptoed over to the top of the grand staircase and peeked over the edge of the railing. Harsh whispers rang through the open foyer.

"You can't see her, James," My mother's voice echoed.

"But she's _my_ daughter too," James Yulee, my father, responded.

"I know what you want to do to her and I won't let you," My mom spat, shoving my father backwards.

"Don't make me do this, Angelica," he whispered, grabbing her elbow.

"Do wha-"was all my mother got out before my dad whipped her to the ground by her arm. She slid across the marble floor and slammed into the stone bench by the wall. My father bolted to the stairs, his old tennis shoes squeaking as he ran. I knew he was coming for me so I ran down to my room at the end of the hall and slammed my door just before my dad made it there.

"Legend! Legend, open this door right now!" he yelled, slamming against the dark wooden door. I screamed as the door splintered under the force. _Bang, Bang, Bang!_ He repeatedly slammed his shoulder against the door, breaking it more with every hit. There was a gaping hole in the wood by then and I could see his angry, sweaty face as he anticipated his moment to fulfill his dream of taking my captive and torturing me to the point of death. It had been like that ever since I was two and my mother grabbed me and escaped my father before he could stop her. He hated me. I was a mistake. I was nothing but a reject to him, and he wanted me out of my mother's life. In his eyes, I was a burden on my mother, sucking money, energy, and pure time away from her. But he knew that my mom loved me and could never bring herself to get rid of me. He had to do it for her.

I sprinted to my closet and closed that door, locking it too. There was a little window in my closet and if I hurried, I could tie some clothes together and use that as a rope to escape out the window.

I heard an exaggerated sigh as my father broke down the main door and found another locked door to get through.

"Legend! Don't do this, honey! Please just come out here. Don't make this complicated!" He yelled, knocking on the door.

"Go to hell, you freaking bastard!" I screamed, tying two long, thin sweaters together. I heard a gunshot and froze, turning my head to the split in the door from the force of my father's shoulder. I got up and peeked through it, seeing my mother holding a little black gun towards my father. He held his hands up in the international "I'm innocent, don't shoot" position.

"Angel, baby, _come on_. Don't be like that," My father cooed.

"Shut the hell up," she spat, pulling the trigger. I gasped as my father fell to the ground. I shoved the door open and rushed to my father, kneeling by his side.

"Dad?" I whispered, examining his bleeding wrist.

"It's okay, child. It only hit my wrist, I'll be fine," he said, smiling evilly.

Before I could process what was happening, his hand was around my neck, squeezing the air out of my throat. I clawed at his hand with my newly grown nails, drawing blood quickly.

My mom ran and kicked him in the side. He dropped his hand and I rushed away gasping. Everything was blurry and rushed past me. My mother was sitting on my dad's back holding his face to the ground. A police siren wailed and people fled into the room, dragging my father away. My mom grabbed me and clutched me to her chest, stroking my hair. The last I saw of my father was the hurt expression on his face as the police dragged him out of my room.

**Me: Yippy! Another cliffy! Please review, I love getting reviews, it inspires me to go on, instead of ditch the story and watch Glee. Yeah, I'm a nerd, deal with it.**


	7. Chapter 7

**So very sorry I haven't updated in a while! I've been very distracted and busy the past month. Any way! Here you go, another chapter! I Hope you're as excited as I am!**

I opened my eyes, groggy and confused, to a bright light. I sat up, stiff, and looked around, taking in everyone around me.

Gazzy had his head hanging over the front of his couch, his mouth wide open, snoring. Fang was lying flat on the pale orange cushions of his couch, his face calm with sleep. Nudge and Angel were curled up on their long couch, still passed out. Iggy had my feet in his lap, his head was leaning against his shoulder, and his chest rose and fell along with his sleepy deep breathing.

I looked around confused, someone was missing. Max wasn't on her couch.

I got up slowly, making sure not to wake Iggy. I walked around, looking in a closet and the bathroom, but she wasn't anywhere to be found. I leaped down the stairs and stopped short at the foot of them. Max was slouching in a plush chair, her knees to her chest and her back to me.

I tiptoed over, my bare feet making absolutely no sound. I slammed hands down on her shoulders and shouted, "Gotcha'!" She didn't even flinch.

"Hey," she said, wiping her face.

"What's up?" I asked, sitting on the arm of the chair.

"Uh, nothing," she murmured, standing up and walking over to the large window on the east wall.

"Well obviously, it's something," I teased, skipping behind her.

"It doesn't matter, it's not like I would tell you," she spat, crossing her arms and staring at the dead rose bushes outside.

"Is there a reason behind that?" I asked, unabashed. "Did I do something wrong?"

"I don't even know you, so there is no reason _to_ tell you anything," she said angrily.

"Well, there definitely is something wrong, so if you don't come out and tell me, I will have to hang you by your toes and poke you with a stick until you tell me…" I said, crossing my arms too.

"Ha, like you could even pin me down." She laughed, shifting her weight.

I shrugged and grabbed her arms, pulling them behind her back. Before she could fight back, I kicked her legs out from under her, and pressed her to the ground with my knee. She yelled out and struggled, but I just pushed her to the ground harder.

"What did you say about me not being able to pin you down?" I asked, chuckling.

"Get off me!" She yelled, rolling over. I stood up and crossed my arms again.

"It's about Fang, isn't it?" I asked, staring out the window.

"No!" she whispered and yelled at the same time. I looked over at her with the 'You suck at lying and you _will_ tell me the truth one way or another' look. "Yes," she whispered after a while.

"Ah, the old boy troubles," I murmured, walking over and sitting in the chair.

"I'm just so- so confused," she whispered.

"The Great Maximum Ride is confused? Hmm, interesting," I mused.

"The _Great_ Maximum Ride?" she asked, genuinely confused.

"You don't think that I live under a rock, do you?"

"I-I don't understand," she whispered.

"You're on TV, like, every week. You are known as 'Maximum Ride, the girl who is going to save the world' and 'Maximum Ride, the Chosen one'. My mother wouldn't let me forget it. She used to say 'Look at that girl, she's a legend,'" I chuckled at the irony. "' She can solve any problem', but here you sit, confused and you feel like you're alone. It's different."

"Ha, I'm none of those things. I'm a fifteen year old who is ecstatic when I get to shower and is in love with two guys at the same time. I was thrown into a strange situation without my permission and now I'm spilling my guts to a strange girl who is in love with my brother!"

"Listen to me, Max," I said, standing and guiding her into the chair. "We both know that this is not about your characteristics, I just said that to get you to talk. What is going on between you and Fang? I think I can help." I said, sitting on the ground.

"It's just-"she started, trying to find the words. "We used to be best friends, and then out of the blue, he wants a relationship. I was hesitant, but when our relationship began, it started to distract me and tear us apart. Jeb brought a guy named Dylan to our house and all of a suddenly I was being thrown at someone else and told to be with him.

"Fang left. He said it was the best for all of us and he went and found another family. Dylan was there and fell in love with me," she whispered, staring at her hands the whole time.

"Were you in love with him?" I asked, honestly intrigued.

"Kind of," she whispered.

"What happened then?"

"We started a little relationship and it lasted for a few months. It was great, I felt whole again, but I was getting my priorities mixed up. Fang contacted us one day, saying he needed our help. We met up and it turns out that he had my clone in his group. I guess I was jealous, but I had Dylan. We were working on a thing called the One Light, and at a conference thing, we lost Angel. Fang saw how hurt I was, but still left again. We searched and searched and found her in some institute somewhere, but Fang and his group were already there, trying to get Angel out of there. After we rescued her, we stayed together for a while and Dylan and Maya, my clone, hit it off.

"Dylan left with Fang's group and Fang left with us. He was just like his normal self then, my right-wing man, but he never brought up his love for me or my love for him. It was like he never thought that way about me. But I don't want it that way anymore. I love him, but he acts like I'm his sister. Not his soul-mate. It's so frustrating." She said, standing and pacing.

"Tell him how you feel. It sounds like he doesn't want to hurt you with a relationship again. But if you express your love for him, he'll get what you're trying to say. Believe me." I said simply.

"You really think that'll work?" she whispered.

"No," I said shrugging. She looked confused and like she wanted to hit me, but I wasn't finished. "I know it will."

**Hooray for cheesy love situations! I promise I will update again soon, like in next few hours or so… Yippy!**


	8. Chapter 8

**I was too eager to wait and put this up next week, so here is yet another chapter, more relationship junk! I still don't own Maximum ride, no matter how much I wish I did… Hope you don't hate it!**

"Ig," I whispered, poking Iggy's cheek. "Iggy – poo, it's time to wake up," I cooed. He let out a loud snore and shifted in his sleep. I let out a dramatic sigh and straightened my back. "Iggy! Wake up!" I screamed, slapping him across the face.

"Ah!" He yelled, jumping. "What was that?"

"I don't know… I just lightly tapped you awake. You must have had a dream that you were falling, or something," I said, pulling him off the couch.

"Oh, where are we going?" He asked, groggily.

"To search the cupboards downstairs for food," I muttered, as I skipped down the stairs. He followed me without protesting which made me smile. He trusted me so much.

I towed him into the large kitchen and started opening and closing cupboards on the walls. Iggy walked behind me and opened the ones under the counters, feeling around for anything inside.

"Jackpot," I murmured, opening a cupboard to see about two dozen cans of ravioli.

"What?" Iggy asked, reaching up and laying his hands on the cans.

"Ravioli," I said, pulling it out of the cupboard.

"Yes!" he yelled, and then dropped a can on his foot.

I laughed and walked out of the kitchen to the bottom of the stairs.

"Wake up, lazies!" I shouted, walking up the stairs. I turned the corner into the room of couches, and stopped short. Max was whispering to Fang by the big window on the far wall. It looked…intimate. They stopped and looked at me, Max embarrassed, Fang annoyed.

"Sorry, sorry," I apologized, walking over to Nudge, Angel, and Gazzy. I shook each of their shoulders and told them to go downstairs. I lifted Angel onto my hip and walked over the stairs. "I found food," I called to the waiting Max and Fang, before I walked down the stairs.

"Wait, so you got Max and Fang to be _alone_ in a room together?" Nudge asked, astonished.

"They haven't been alone in a room together since Fang came back and Dylan left," Angel, whispered, completely amazed.

"Yeah," I breathed, taking a bite of ravioli. "I had, like, a serious talk with Max earlier. Maybe she wanted to do something about it," I shrugged.

"You must have, like, magical powers," Iggy said around a bite of ravioli.

"Nah, just the power of persuasion," I chuckled. Just on cue, Max hopped down the stairs, a smile on her face.

"Hello," she chirped, grabbing a closed can of ravioli and opening it with the little can opener.

"Well, well, well, fancy meeting you here," I said, giving her a _look_.

"What?" she said, noticing everyone staring at her.

"What just happened?" Iggy asked, smiling.

"Nothing," Max said, stuffing a ravioli into her mouth. We all looked at her, doubting expressions on our faces. "What? Nothing happened!"

"Okay, you are a sucky liar. Spill it," I said, setting down my ravioli and propping my chin up on my hands, smirking at Max.

"Uh," she stuttered, her face falling, "Come with me," she said, motioning for me to follow. "Alone," she added when Angel started to follow.

"What happened?" I whispered as she dragged me to the lobby. "What is going on?"

"I kissed Fang," she blurted out, sitting in a chair. She dropped her head into her hands and her shoulders shook. I couldn't tell if she was crying or laughing. "I kissed him and he kissed me back," she chuckled, tears rolling down her cheeks.

"Why are you crying? That's a good thing, right?" I asked, sitting on the chair next to her.

"I don't know anymore," she sobbed. "He left for so long, and I fell for Dylan. Those feelings don't just disappear. After we kissed, he flew out the window and I came down here. But I don't know where he went. Will you find him for me? Talk to him, or something?"

"Of course," I said, standing up. "You go back upstairs, and lie down, and I'll go find Fang." I ran to the front doors and launched myself into the air.

**Ooh, where could he be? He's gone missing! Any who! I'll try and update soon, even though I updated twice today… WooHoo!**


	9. Chapter 9

**Hey, guys. Here's another chapter for you! This relationship stuff is getting pretty intense if you ask me… I still don't own Maximum Ride… Hope you like it!**

"Fang?" I called, searching below me for a flash of black. "Oh, Fangy-poo!" I yelled, chuckling a little.

"Yes?" Fang's voice answered, but I couldn't see him anywhere. I stopped abruptly in midair and felt something slam into my back. I turned around and Fang was flying in front of me, rubbing his head.

"What the hell?" I said, slowly descending.

"What?" he asked, following me.

"What's going on with you and Max?" I said, more lightly this time. I landed on a thick tree branch and watched as Fang sat lightly on the one above me. He hesitated and picked at something on his jeans. I waited patiently, knowing that these things just couldn't be rushed.

"I love her," he whispered, barely audible.

"I know_ that_," I said, catching him off guard. He was probably hoping for some dramatic gasp of some sort. "So why are you acting like this, then?"

"I don't know if she loves me. Dylan," he cringed at the name, "has left his mark on her, and I don't want to see her hurt, again." He looked down and cleared his throat, obviously uncomfortable talking about his feelings.

"Why did you leave?" I asked abruptly, confused.

"I thought it would be the best for everyone." He said, shrugging.

"It wasn't," I spat. "You killed her inside, Fang. I can see it when she looks at you. But she loves you more than anything in the world, too. Stop being a coward and make a move, otherwise she'll start to doubt her feelings for you." I said, flying up and sitting in front of him on his branch. He stared blankly at me, astonished.

"If you love her, you love her. If you don't, you don't, but don't take too much time to decide, because she's in pain." I said, thrusting myself into the air again. "Come back soon, she's waiting."

"Where is Fang?"

"I want to leave,"

"I'm aching to fly, so if we don't leave soon, I will throw a fit,"

Complaints were floating from almost every mouth as we stood on the roof of the rinky-dink motel, searching for black dots in the sky.

"Sorry, guys," Fang blurted, making everyone jump. "I lost track of time,"

"Where have you been?" Max yelled, throwing her hands up in the air in frustration. "I wanted to leave an hour ago! Did it ever cross your mind-" Fang grabbed her face lightly and pressed his lips to her, cutting her off.

"Ew," Gazzy whispered, putting his hands over Angel's wide eyes.

"Awww," Angel and Nudge said in unison.

"What's going on?" Iggy whispered in my ear.

"Max and Fang are having a moment," I said, leaning into him. He wrapped his arms around my waist and set his chin on my head. It started to get a little awkward, so I spoke up, saving everyone from a _really_ awkward silence.

"Okay, I'm going to leave now, so you guys can just catch up in a sec," I said, scooting Angel, Nudge, and Gazzy up into the air. Iggy grabbed my pant leg as we leapt into the air and laughed as soon as we were out of hearing range.

"Oh, my _gawd_!" Nudge squealed, flailing her arms.

"What did you say to Fang?" Gazzy asked, his eyebrows still raised in surprise.

"Nothing, I just told him that if he loved her, he should do something instead of sitting there like a lump," I said, shrugging.

"Okay, you're crazy," Iggy murmured.

"Not at all, just pushy," I laughed, spinning in the air.

**Well there you go! Review, review, review, review, review, please! Love you guys bunches!**


	10. Chapter 10

**Disclaimer-I don't own Maximum Ride… I know, depressing, right? Anyway! Here's is another chapter for you to chew on! Hope you enjoy it, though it's okay if you don't!**

Silence filled the air as we sped through the atmosphere. There were two little dots a few dozen miles back, never getting closer to us, but never falling behind, either. We all knew that they were Max and Fang, flying separate from us so they could sort out their _situation_.

"There's the house," Nudge shouted, pointing at a house on the ground far below.

"Bombs away!" I yelled, tucking in my wings and falling to the ground. Six blobs appeared in my peripheral vision, and I stopped, waiting for the leader to lead. Max breezed past me, towing Fang by the hand behind her.

"Mom?" Max called, opening the front door.

"MAX!" A small girl screamed, plowing into Max. "Come in! How's it going?" she blurted, pulling Max inside the house. Max motioned for everyone to follow.

"Come on, Ig. I want to meet the family," I chuckled, pulling at his hand. He didn't move, he just stood there, looking towards his hand. "Ig, what's wrong?"

"Uh, nothing," he said, looking up, but I could tell he wasn't as enthusiastic as before.

"Obviously, there _is_ something going on here." I said, pulling him closer to me. "Tell me," I whispered.

"There is definitely something going on here," he whispered back, his beautiful smile returning. He leaned down and kissed me once on the cheek.

"Uh, hey," the small girl called from the porch of the house. She looked… devastated.

"Hi," I called, towing Iggy up to the front door. "I'm Legend," I said, holding out my hand.

"Ella," she said, shaking my hand. "Come in,"

"Thanks," I murmured.

"Hey," she whispered to Iggy as he passed her.

"Hi," he said back, speeding up so he was at my side.

"Well, who is this?" An older woman asked, looking first at me then at Max, when I walked into the kitchen.

"Uh, this is Legend, another bird kid," she said, gesturing to me.

"Ah, I'm Valencia Martinez, Max's mom, it's nice to meet you," she said sweetly, shaking my free hand.

"Likewise," I said, smiling.

We hung out and talked, getting to know each, for another hour or so. The whole time, Iggy and Ella were sneaking little glances at each other, which they tried to be sly about, but they failed.

We made three batches of fresh chocolate chip cookies, which Iggy thoroughly burnt his throat on. Dr. Martinez showed us baby pictures of Ella, which made her run out of the room, a bright red color on her cheeks, while the rest of us laughed and shouted for her to come back. We had a large dinner and then were dispersed to rooms that Dr. Martinez had set up for these occasions.

I stared at Iggy's face as he nodded his head to the music on his iPod. He was lying across one of the two twin beds in Dr. Martinez's guest room, while I was sitting cross-legged on the other one.

He clicked the pause button and wrapped the headphones around his iPod, then set it on the table beside his bed.

"Legend?" he asked, sitting up so that his legs were hanging off the side of his bed. He was staring at my left cheek, pretty close to my eyes.

"Yeah?" I said, shifting on the bed.

"What's wrong?" he asked, walking over to me. He kneeled in front of me and held out his hands.

"Nothing's wrong," I said, setting my hands in his.

"You're lying," he stated, leaning closer to me.

"Are you and Ella in an unfinished relationship?" I blurted, squeezing his hands.

He didn't say anything at first, just looked down at the ground with his unseeing eyes.

"No," He finally said, looking back at me again.

"Now _you're_ lying," I said sadly. I scooted up into the middle of the bed and pulled my knees to my chest, letting my wings stretch out a little behind me. Iggy followed me and sat with his legs crossed, right in front of me.

"It's nothing now," he said, pressing his large hand to my cheek. "I swear,"

"Well what _was_ it?" I asked, tearing up a little.

"It was nothing, really. She had a crush on me and we were a couple for a few weeks, but I couldn't stay here forever, so I had to end it." He shrugged, looking a bit embarrassed.

"You still love her, don't you?" I asked, tears spilling down my cheeks. The thought of Iggy sneaking around with his ex while I was asleep was unbearable.

"No! Don't cry, Le, please. There is nothing between us anymore. It's you and only you," he said, sounding like he was just now believing himself.

"I can't help but feel that I'm a second choice," I sobbed, wiping my eyes on the back of my hand.

"Don't ever say that," he said, pulling me into his arms. "Legend, I love you," he said, taking me by surprise. I was stunned. I didn't know what to say.

"Y-you do?" I stuttered, wiping my eyes.

"Yes, I do. With all my heart," he said earnestly, stroking my jaw with his thumb.

"I love you, too," I said with a little relieved laughed. I looked up at Iggy's smiling face and saw pure love in his sightless eyes. "Oh, Iggy," I said, pulling his face to mine. I pressed my lips to his, smiling beneath the kiss. He kissed me back gently, laughing at my bipolar-ness. I pulled away lightly and placed my hand on his cheek.

"I'm sorry," I said, touching my thumb to the outer corner of his right eye.

"For what?" Iggy asked, leaning into my hand.

"For freaking out at you," I murmured, a little embarrassed.

"It's okay," he whispered, kissing my palm.

We leaned back and I curled up in Iggy's arms, tracing random patterns on his bicep. Engulfed in a whole bunch of Iggy, I fell, for the first time in a long time, into a comfortable, warm, and dreamless sleep.

**Sooooooo….? Like it? Review, review, review, review, review, review please! I would love you forever if you did!**


	11. Chapter 11

**Nudge:**** Why is this chapter so long?**

**Me:**** Because there is a lot of information to get in here…**

**Angel:**** No one is gonna want to read this…**

**Me:**** Well aren't you a freaking bundle of joy!**

**Fang:**** Where's Max?**

**Max:**** Over here, genius.**

**Fang:**** Hostility not necessary.**

**Me:**** Can you all just shut up and let me do my thing?**

**Iggy:**** What thing? You don't have a **_**thing**_**.**

**Me:**** Don't make me come over there and beat you senseless! **

**Legend:**** Touch my man and I will individually peel of every one of your finger nails then hang you from the ceiling by your toes and let you bleed out through your forehead…**

**Me:**** *Gulp* Okay, um, you're officially a freaking bottle of mental instability. Anyway, you should already know that I don't own anything from Maximum Ride.**

**All (Except me):**** Ha, ha!**

**Me:**** Haha, you're **_**soo**_** funny. **

**Gazzy:**** On with the story! I'm **_**dying**_** to know what happens next!**

**Legend:**_**Gay…**_

2 weeks later.

A throbbing bass pounding in the next room pulled me out of my nightmare and into the bright light of a sunny morning. I made a sound between a cough and something a cat does when it's dying, rolled out of my bed, and pulled my silk robe around my shoulders. I turned to wake Iggy up but froze at the sight of two empty beds. I looked around, confused, but knowing that he wouldn't just be standing in a corner or something. Then my eyes fell on a little slip of white paper at the edge of Iggy's abandoned bed.

I picked up the note and read:

Good morning, Sleeping Beauty,

You're probably standing there reading this all confused, but don't worry, I'm not MIA; I'm just taking a shower. I know, shocker, but we're leaving today so Max gave me ten bucks to bathe. Get dressed and packed, then come out for some breakfast. Don't forget your new robe and t-shirt.

Love Iggy…

I laughed at the little smiley face then dropped the paper into my robe pocket. I rushed around the room and grabbed all of my belongings, not that there were a lot. I threw my robe into the backpack last and pulled my jeans on. I walked over to the chair in the corner and grabbed my new flowery shirt. I turned and looked at myself in the large mirror on the wall, cringing at the sight.

I've always avoided looking in mirrors my whole life. My shirt fell from my hands and landed in a heap on my left foot. I reached up and covered my mouth with my hands as tears dripped from my eyes and onto my cheeks.

My eyes slowly moved from my face to my neck, which was almost perfectly porcelain with only two little freckles on it. I took a deep breath as my eyes continued to my chest. They passed my shoulders and my gray bra and stopped on my stomach. I blinked hard, hoping that the image was just a terrible hallucination, but knew I couldn't avoid it anymore.

I took another deep breath, and then opened my eyes to examine my gruesome body. My eyes moved along the long, dark, and ugly scars that covered my pale torso. They zigzagged along my skinny stomach that once looked normal. Just looking at the repulsive marks shot pain through my body and I flinched as I moved to touch one that ran an inch under my bellybutton. It was cold and numb and just brought on another shot of emotional pain. I slowly rotated and looked back over my shoulder as best as I could. I sobbed into my hair once I saw the same marks covering my back and surrounding my wings.

_Marks from my father_, I thought, anger flooding through me. Suddenly, couldn't take it anymore. I turned around again and punched the mirror with all my strength. The music quickly shut off in the other room and glass pieces showered the floor at my feet. I flung myself onto my bed. I pulled my knees to my chest and fell sideways, burying my face in a pillow. I pulled a blanket around me to hide the scars and I rocked back and forth, thinking of happy things like hugging Iggy, dancing with Nudge and Angel, baking cookies with Max, anything to get my mind off of my mutilated body.

"Le?" Iggy shouted from the hallway. I pulled the blanket over my head and tried to stop crying. I heard the door slam open and then multiple gasps. Someone whispered something about a broken mirror to Iggy. "Legend?" Iggy asked, and then I heard his footsteps and felt a hand on my leg. "Can you give us a minute?" Iggy asked, and then I heard footsteps slowly fade away. The music in the other room came back on, but not as loud this time.

"Legend, what's going on?" Iggy asked softly, pulling the blanket away from my face.

"I-I," I stammered, looking for a way to explain what _was_ going on. I shook my head, and a fresh wave of tears flowed down my face. Iggy reached up to touch my face and found my cheek wet.

"It's okay," He whispered, pulling me into his arms. "Legend, are you wearing a shirt?" He asked when his arm touched my bare side.

"Not exactly," I murmured, pulling away from him.

"Why?" He asked calmly.

I didn't say anything; I just grabbed his hand and dragged his finger along one of the scars on my stomach.

"Do you feel the scar?" I asked, lacing my fingers through his.

"Yeah," He murmured, moving his other hand to grab our intertwined ones. I lie back on the bed and set his hand over my bellybutton. He gasped as he felt the zigzags across my stomach.

"Legend," he said, scooting closer to me. "Who did this to you?"

"My dad," I whispered, sitting up. I leaned forward and put his hand on the middle of my back. He made a sympathetic noise and moved his hand up. He dragged it up my spine, over the back of my bra, and set it between my wings.

"I'm so sorry," he whispered, pulling me into a bear hug.

"Don't be," I said, wrapping my arms around his waist. "Do you know where I can find a pair of scissors in this house?" I asked into his shoulder.

"Why?" He asked, alarmed.

"I need to cut some slits in my new shirt," I murmured, chuckling. He let me go and went to retrieve some scissors for me. I went to my bag and pulled out my robe again. I put it back on and went over to mess of broken glass on the floor. I picked up the big pieces and crossed the hall to the bathroom to throw them away. When I walked back into the hallway I was greeted by two little girls wrapping their arms around me.

"We're so sorry, Legend," Nudge said.

"What are you talking about?" I asked, rubbing their shoulders.

"About your dad," Angel said, looking up at me.

"Crap, I forgot that you read minds," I murmured, smiling down at her.

"It's a blessing and a curse," she said, giggling.

"Well thank you," I said. They ran off down the hall to get breakfast and I went back into my room. I sat down on the edge of my bed, and set my face in my hands.

"Hey," a voice said from behind me, making me jump. I stood up and turned around to see Fang sitting with his legs crossed in the middle of my bed. He had a dust pan and mini broom in his hands, too.

"Oh, hi," I said, pulling my robe tighter around me.

"Sorry to intrude, but I just wanted to say thanks for not going easy on me about Max. I think all I needed was a good kick in the ass," He said, smiling.

"You're welcome," I said, smiling back. "By the way, how did you get in here without anyone noticing?"

"Oh, I was invisible." He said matter-of-factly.

"Of course, what a reasonable explanation. I can't believe that I would have ever thought something different," I said, my voice dripping with sarcasm. He chuckled and slid off the bed.

"Here, I thought you might want something to clean the glass up with," He said, sticking the dust pan and broom into my hands.

"Thanks," I said, watching as he walked out of the room and Iggy walked in.

"Here," Iggy said, switching out the broom and dust pan in my hands for a pair of scissors. He went to work on cleaning the mess of glass up while I grabbed my shirt and cut slits in the back. I dropped the robe from shoulders, not worrying about Iggy seeing me topless because he's, you know, _blind_. I threw on my shirt and sauntered over to help Iggy.

**Yeah, I know. **_**Scandalous,**_** right? Anyway, I hope you liked it! Please, please, PLEASE review! **


	12. Chapter 12

**Hey Readers, I'm **_**so**_** sorry I haven't updated in a long time, but I've had severe writers block for a long time. I don't own anything from Maximum Ride, by the way. Well here you go, another chapter to quench your thirst for… something…**

"I'm so sorry about the mirror, Dr. Martinez," I said as our group was saying our goodbyes.

"It's okay, dear. I was going to replace that ugly thing soon anyway," She said with an amused grin. I chuckled and gave her a big hug. "You're welcome back here anytime," She said, patting my back.

"Thank you," I said politely, pulling away from her. I glanced over to my right to see Ella in Iggy's arms. Iggy looked happy to be holding her, and it made me sad that I was such a jealous girlfriend…

"Okay, onward and upward!" Max called, clapping her hands. Everyone broke away from their embraces and conversations and followed Max out into the front yard. I pulled on a thin gray then walked to Iggy's side and nudged him with my shoulder. He smiled and put his arm around my shoulder. I turned around a waved goodbye one last time to Max's family. We launched ourselves into the air and set off to our next location.

About an hour later had no idea where we were going. All I knew was that we were headed north…

"Where are we going?" I asked, pulling my sweater tighter around my shoulders.

"I'm not sure," Max replied, flying directly under Fang.

"Wow, okay," I murmured, maneuvering around the multiplied winged children so I was flying above all of them. I did a quick spin in the air and shot forward. The rest laughed and mimicked me, following in my trail.

"Let's land in that cave over there," Max called, pointing over to a large opening in the side of a pointy mountain. We aimed ourselves downward and rocketed into the cave.

As soon as we touched down, Angel froze and motioned for the rest of us to do the same.

"Hello?" she called, taking a cautious step forward.

"Well, what a pleasant surprise," a voice rang through the empty darkness. A boy, easily as tall as Fang and Iggy if not taller, sauntered out into the light. I heard multiple gasps from behind and mix between a hiss and a sharp intake of breath. The boy had shaggy, dark blond hair, a perfectly tanned face, and bright turquoise eyes, which examined each and every one of us, pausing on my face.

"Dylan," Nudge breathed, stepping back. He ignored her and stared at Max.

"Hi Max," he said sweetly, taking small steps forward.

"Don't come near me," she warned, her voice flying daggers. She leaned into Fang who stood tense behind her.

"Oh, come on," I heard Max say, but her lips didn't move. A scuffling sound from the dark shadow that Dylan had emerged from shattered my stare and pulled my eyes back to it.

An exact copy of Max stepped out from the shadow. She threw us a snide smile and walked to Dylan's side, setting her elbow on his shoulder. "There's no reason for the hostility, we're practically family!" she exclaimed, her voice dripping with sarcasm.

A feral growl ripped from Max's throat and everyone, except Fang, took a step back. I shoved against Iggy's chest and he pulled us back a few feet. Everything fell silent and a hardcore staring contest broke out between the two Maxes.

After a minute or two, it became beyond awkward and I made the decision to step in again.

"Okay, that's enough," I said, sounding like a furious mother after her kids have been fighting for hours. I walked up to the two girls and shoved them away from each other. The original Max fell into Fang's arms and the other one fell into Dylan's.

"I think introductions are in order!" I added perkily.

"Agreed," a rough voice added from the shadows. I turned my head that way again to see two more guys and three more girls materialize out of blackness. How big was it back there?

"Ratchet," The guy who had talked, said, holding out his hand. I shook it and gave him a little smile.

"Legend," I said back.

"Awesome name, did you change it or were you born into it? That would be hardcore if it was your natural name," he said, shifting his weight.

"All natural," I said, nodding my head.

"I'm Kate, and that's Star," an Asian girl said pointing to a blond chick who looked like she was ready for a yearbook photo.

"Holden," A scrawny, pale kid murmured.

Then a small girl about 11 years old pushed to the front of the group from behind Ratchet and Kate. I gasped and staggered backward as I stared into her intense green eyes, just like mine. Her black hair mimicked mine and she flipped it over her shoulder just like I do all the time. She flashed a quick, toothy smile then shook her shoulders and extended let black wings out from behind her, just like mine.

"Hi, I'm Silver," she giggled, giving a little hop. I gasped a little and everything got twice as awkward.

**Well there you go. Did you like it? Please, please, please review! And Thank You SO much to ****Silver the bird hybrid**** for the wonderful character Silver! If you have any ideas for the story or characters, please tell me and if I like it, I might put it in here somewhere!**


	13. Chapter 13

**Hey, what's up? Here is, again, another chapter for all y'all. I don't own Maximum Ride, but I do own Legend, so no stealing! Anyway, it's just a short chapter, but a chapter either way…**

"Whoa," Nudge murmured from behind me. I heard someone slap her lightly.

"Wait, what's going on?" Iggy asked, confused.

"Legend has a little sister," Gazzy whispered to Iggy.

"She's not my sister," Silver and I said at the same time, in the same defensive tone.

Everyone stared awkwardly at Silver and I as we observed each other from a distance. It was like I was staring in a mirror that took two years off. She had a sick expression on her face that was probably an exact copy of mine.

"Holy crap," Fang said quietly.

"Shut up, Fang," I said, though Silver was like an echo, saying the same thing again.

Fang swallowed loudly and took a cautious step backward, dragging Max with him. She shot him a funny look then stepped towards me.

She looked at Silver for a second then said, "Well then, I'm Max," and she held out her hand.

"I know," Silver replied, but still shook her hand. "And you are Fang," she said, pointing at Fang. "Nudge, Gazzy, Angel, Iggy, and Legend," she said pointing at each of us. She said my name with some kind of disgust in her voice.

"Silver," I said, stepping towards her. "What's your last name?"

"I don't have one," she answered immediately, but I could see that she was lying.

"What _was_ your last name?" I tried, refusing to be left in the dark when this girl might actually be my sister. Her face twisted and she looked at all the staring faces.

"I never had one!" she yelled, stomping back into the shadow.

"I wonder what that was about," Gazzy said, shifting his weight.

"She's embarrassed," Angel whispered. Everyone stared at Angel, waiting for a further explanation. She looked up and realized that everyone was waiting.

"She is embarrassed because of her last name because it's a mark that is left by her father. He wasn't good to her, he beat her, and he sent her to the School. She didn't want to be his daughter, so she refuses to accept that she is." Angel explained, shrugging.

I gasped and looked down at my feet. It sounded just like me, except that they both of my parents sent me to that institution. My father was ashamed of me, so he would cut my stomach and back because he hoped it would eventually kill me.

I heard Angel gasp as she read my thoughts. I clenched my eyes closed tight and felt tears flow onto my cheeks.

"Her last name in Yulee," I whispered.

"How do you know?" Nudge asked.

"Because that's my last name and she's my sister," I murmured. From the darkness, I heard a quiet sob.

**Ooh, Drama! Please review! Thanks!**


	14. Chapter 14

**Well, hello again readers! I don't own Maximum Ride, only that character Legend, so don't you dare steal her! So, here is chapter 14 for you guys!**

"Legend," Iggy's voice broke the silence of the black night. We were staying in the same cave as Dylan and his group for the night and Iggy and I were lying next to each other at the mouth of the cave. I had my arm hanging out of the cave and over the edge of the tall cliff.

"Yeah?" I asked absentmindedly. I dragged my fingers nails lightly across the jagged face of the rock.

"Do you want to talk about it?" he asked quietly, turning towards me. I hadn't said a word to anyone since I realized that Silver was my little sister. It felt like I would burst into tears if I tried to say anything more than one word.

I shifted on the ground, scooting closer to Iggy. I pulled him up into a sitting position and leaned my head against his chest. He put his arms around my shoulders and I nodded into his shirt so he could feel it.

"What happened?" He asked, rubbing my back.

"When my mom was giving birth to me, she almost died. She was in unbearable pain for months after that. My dad hated seeing her in pain like that, so he made it his goal to make me suffer as much as she did. When I was really young, like 6 months old, he would hit me, burn me with his cigarettes, little things like that," my voice cracked and I could feel silent tears dripping down my cheeks and onto Iggy's jeans. I took a deep breath and continued on. "As I got older he would take my mom on vacations and convince her to leave me home. When I was two years old, he brought her somewhere for almost a month and the neighbors would take care of me because they knew what my dad would do to me. When they came home, they told me that they got a dog while they were gone, but I never saw it and I heard a baby crying in the room that they always put it in. When I got older, I realized that it wasn't a dog, but a child that they had locked up. Eventually, my mom caught my dad burning my shoulder with one of his cigarettes and she kicked him out. He stole that baby from the room and left, swearing to kill me one day."

I felt Iggy tense up, but he didn't say anything. I sighed and wiped my tears from my cheeks. "Then, he came back one day, and convinced my mom to let him stay. That's when he started to cut my stomach and back, hoping that eventually it would kill me." A lump rose in my throat and it took me a minute to find my voice again. I put my arms around Iggy's waist and pulled him closer to me. "He left again a few years later and didn't come back. Until…years later, he showed up and wanted to take me away and give me to the School. My mom said not yet, that I wasn't ready to go there yet. He wouldn't take no for an answer and he tried to kidnap me. When he couldn't and got arrested, my mom started to consider the idea of sending me to the School earlier. She sort of liked the idea and it soiled her mind and she became just as bad as him, but I didn't see that in her until it was too late."

We sat there a minute in silence. I listened closely to the deep breathing that flowed from every sleeping body.

"Legend, you are amazing," Iggy whispered into my hair.

"What?" I asked a little confused.

"You are so brave. I would be really screwed up if I had lived through that, but here you sit, perfect in every way," He marveled, stroking my hair. "You amaze me, Le. There are no words to describe how I feel about you right now; I love you, so much. You don't deserve to have been treated that way, and you will never be again," he said, pulling my face to his.

His lips were warm against mine, and his long, pale fingers twisted into my long black hair. My lips formed to his and I moved closer, sitting on his lap. We broke apart and I took a big breath. I leaned my forehead against his, and a smile spread across his lips.

"Iggy, you are the best thing that ever happened to me," I said, and pecked him on the lips one more time.

I pulled him down onto the ground and snuggled into his chest. Once again, I fell into a peaceful sleep, cuddled up to Iggy. I finally got everything off my chest and I felt light as a feather.

As I was drifting off into a much needed and deserved sleep, I heard a slightly demonic giggle in the back of the cave.

**Ooh, scary! Please, please, please review! It would really help me, I starting to lose inspiration…**


	15. Chapter 15

**Yellow! How's it going? Here is chapter…15? I think… Yeah, that's right… I hope. Anyway! I don't Maximum Ride, as usual. The ownership has not changed, and thus Legend is still my property. Hope you like this chapter!**

"Iggy? Did you hear that," I asked, sitting up again.

"Yeah," He said, sitting up with me. "Who was that?"

"I'm not sure," I whispered. I crawled forward into the darker part of the cave and focused my eyes on every sleeping face. I froze when I saw Silver. She was sitting in a sort of feline position, sort of like a cat. She stared back and her eyes practically glowed in the dark. She was perched on top of Nudge's chest, who was twitching beneath her. Silver's foot was placed directly on Nudge's throat, cutting off her air supply.

"Silver!" I screeched, launching myself forward. I grabbed her shoulders and tackled her to the hard ground, and pinned her shoulders down.

"What are you doing?" I yelled, punching her hard in the nose. I heard a crunching nose as my fist connected with her face. She made a little squeaking nose then her eyes closed and her head fell to the side. I hopped off her unconscious body and knelt at Nudge's side. By then, everyone was awake and fluttering in every direction. Maya, Dylan, and Ratchet were bent over Silver, and Fang, Max, Iggy, Angel, Gazzy, and I were bent over Nudge. Kate, Star, and Holden were hovering off in the corner, looking uncomfortable.

"Nudge," I whispered, stroking her hair. She was unconscious, but she was still breathing. "Nudge, come on, wake up," I said, patting her cheek. She shook her head and opened her eyes.

"What the hell?" she murmured and we all chuckled in relief. She got up and looked around, and then she spotted Silver and lunged for her. Fang and Gazzy grabbed her and she let out a furious scream.

"How could you do that?" She yelled directly at Silver.

"Do what? I have no idea what you're talking about…" Silver said calmly. She crossed her arms and shifted her weight to her left leg.

"You tried to kill me, bitch!" Nudge yelled, struggling against Fang and Gazzy.

"Why would I do that?" Silver asked, getting angry.

"Silver, I saw you trying to kill her!" I yelled.

"Prove it," She spat and I froze at the tone of her voice. I had heard it before, almost exactly the same. I sifted through my memories and one stood out over the rest.

"Legend, you are a mistake," My father spat, pushing me against a wall with his arm over my neck.

"No, I'm not," I cried, trying to shove him away with my feeble eight year old arms.

"Yes, you are. You are nothing but shit," He said in an amused tone.

"No, I'm special," I said, louder this time.

"Who told you that? Your mom?" He asked, shoving against my throat. I couldn't breathe, let alone speak, so I nodded my head quickly, hoping that would be enough to make him let me go.

"Well, she lied to you. She doesn't love you. She doesn't want you. She only puts up with you so she can help me kill you later." He laughed, though a tear dripped out of his eyes, which were crazed. He had dark purple circles around them and his breath reeked of alcohol.

"No, you're alone, James. My mom isn't on your side and you know it. You keep telling yourself that she still loves you, but deep down you know that no one can love a monster!" I yelled, spitting on his face. He flinched, but just wiped off his face with his free arm.

"No, you're wrong. You are young, naive. You don't understand adult things like this. Your mom loves me more than she loves you," He said, very close to my face.

"Prove it," I spat.

_Oh, my God, she's just like me_, I thought, snapping out of my memory. I needed to clear my head and get some air, so, without thinking about anyone else, I sprinted to the mouth of the cave and launched myself into the cool night air.

I pumped my wings hard and shot myself high into the air, loving the wind on my face. I lost track of time as I flew in intricate circles through the clouds. My hair and face were damp when I spotted two dark dots way out on the horizon. I hovered in the air and peered at the advancing specks, trying to see who it was. I watched for five minutes until I could just make out Fangs strong, dark wings and Iggy's light, fluttering ones.

I sighed and flew in their direction.

"Legend, are you okay?" Fang asked as I got within ten feet of them.

"Yeah," I murmured, looking at the pale morning light breaking over the mountains.

We flew in the direction of the cave in silence. Four nervous bird kids stood in the mouth of the cave and seven other kids were huddled farther back.

"Silver, may I speak to you?" I asked as my feet touched the cold stone.

"What now?" I heard her murmur in the back of the cave.

I quickly shot everyone a look and they filed out of the cave. I grabbed Silver's shoulders and pushed her to the ground, then sat down in front of her.

"Silver," I said, waiting until she looked me in the eyes. "Why were you choking Nudge? Seriously," I said.

Silver didn't say anything; she just sat there and stared at her hands folded in her lap.

"Silver? Look at me," I said.

She lifted her head slowly and looked me in the eyes.

"It's just-"She started, shaking her head. "It's just that all my life, I felt like I was alone. Like someone was out there that was like me and knew what was going on in my head, but I couldn't reach them. Something- or someone- was keeping me away. And then you show up, and it felt like I found my big sister. The person I always needed, but couldn't have. But it looked like you had already found yourself a little sister; two little sisters, even, and it just killed me."

I let this sink in for a minute. She was jealous of Nudge and Angel? Why?

"So it was your first thought to try and kill them?" I spat, crossing my arms. It was sweet that she wanted a big sister, but I hated that her idea of getting one was through murder.

"I'm not good with words." She said matter-of-factly.

"And you've never had a real family, have you?" I said.

"No, only my dad and he doesn't care about me. In fact, when I ran away, he didn't care and he just set out to find orphans to experiment on." She gave one humorless laugh.

"Do you feel at home with Dylan and Maya and the rest of them?" I asked, feeling bad for her. She went through the same thing I did, and I found a true home with the flock.

"No, not at all," she spat, shaking her head.

"Then come and join me and the flock," I stated, shrugging.

"Really?" She asked, looking up at me. "Can I?"

"Well, I'll have to talk to them, but I'm sure they won't mind." I said, standing up. I extended my hand to her and helped her up.

"Thanks," she said. "Oh, and one more thing, dad was easy enough to handle, but mom is pissed. She found me and dad after you ran away and vowed to find you and make you pay for just running away with everything that she devoted her life to."

I looked at Silver with shock. "What does that mean?"

**Cliffy! Please, please, please review! I would love you forever!**


	16. Chapter 16

Silver didn't have time to answer. Iggy, Max, and Fang flew into the cave hurriedly. I sighed, walking over to the group.

"Iggy, can I talk to you?" I asked, preparing myself for the reaction of inviting Silver into the flock.

"Not right now," he spat, breezing past me and into the dark back of the cave. I stood frozen for a minute, pondering his answer. Max and Fang fell into a lump on the ground holding each other. Max had a shocked expression on her face, as if someone just dumped a load of bad news on her shoulders.

"What's going on?" Silver asked, stealing the words out of my mouth.

No one answered, leaving my head swimming with questions. Before I could ask any, the rest of the flock and Dylan's little unit drooped into the cave, questions floating around them. I ran up to Nudge, grabbing her elbow.

"What's going on?" I asked.

"We don't know," She answered, shrugging. "Iggy got a text then Max, Fang, and him took off."

I turned around and headed towards Iggy. He was slumped in a corner, clutching the cell phone to his chest. His eyes were open, fixated on the ceiling of the cave and he was rocking back and forth in little jerky movements.

"Iggy?" I asked quietly, sitting down in front of him. "Tell me what's going on," I whispered, setting my hands on his knees. He jerked his knees away, not saying anything. I pulled my hands away, hurt.

"Iggy?" I asked, scooting away.

"Just leave me alone, okay?" He ordered. I sat there, a lump in my throat. I pulled myself together and crawled a few feet away, watching his sightless eyes. He sniffed and set his forehead on his kneecaps. I took a deep breath and rested my head against the wall, closing my eyes.

_Maybe he just needs some time to think over what just happened and he'll tell you when he's ready_, I told myself.

Thoughts of flying over beautiful turquoise water filled my brain and carried me into sleep.


	17. Chapter 17

"Legend, wake up," A voice whispered, stirring me from my peaceful sleep. "We're leaving, get the hell up," It said, more persistent this time.

"Go away, I'm sleeping," I murmured, squeezing my eyes tighter.

"Get up!" It yelled, startling me. I opened my eyes to find Nudge kneeling in front of me.

"Why?" I groaned, rubbing my eyes.

"We're leaving right now," she said, hopping up and running to the mouth of the cave. She jumped into the air and flew off. I looked around, finding the cave empty. I sighed and picked myself up. I grabbed my leather back pack and dark gray sweater and ran to the end of the cave. I looked around and found and group of kids running way down in the trees and another group flying about a mile off. I slunk into my sweater and leaped into the air. I free-fell for a minute, loving the feeling of the wind in my hair and I gradually unfurled my wings, slowing my fall.

I flapped my wings strongly, pulling me high into the atmosphere. I spotted the flock up ahead, but didn't try to catch up. I wasn't in the mood to travel in a tense environment, not knowing what was happening or where I was going. You could easily see that no one was in a good mood just by the way they flew farther apart than they normally did, keeping their heads straight forward. Something bad was going on, and I wanted to know.

About two hours later, I spotted the flock slowly descending into an almost invisible clearing below. The sun was setting in the west, casting strange shadows on the trees below and tinting everything pink. I dropped down where I was, craving a silent walk alone before I entered back into the unpredictable environment that was the flock.

My sneakers hit the ground with a thud as I slipped down between two large trees. I sat down against the trunk of a tree and pulled the shoes off my feet. I sighed, letting my head fall backward against the bark. I cracked my back and my knuckles then slipped my neon patterned socks off my feet and stretched my toes. I stuffed the shoes and socks into my back pack and hopped up. I slung the bag onto my shoulders and started walking through the trees.

I pulled my sleeves over my fists as a cool breeze ruffled my hair. I wiped my nose and eyes, feeling a little stuffy. A light appeared in the distance, showing me that I was approaching the clearing. I took a big breath and stepped into the clearing, avoiding eye contact with anyone. Pulling my bag higher up on my shoulder, I sauntered over to the other side of the clearing. I dropped at the base of a towering tree.

I looked around at the flock and at how certain people remained closer to each other than others. Iggy leaned his back against Fang's in the middle of the grass. Max sat in Fang's lap and Angel sat in front of her. Max leisurely stroked Angel's hair as she gnawed on her thumb nail, looking in every direction. Dylan and his group were half hidden in the woods, not even in the clearing. Gazzy was lying on his stomach on a fat branch in a tree, hanging his arm down over Nudges head as she sat on the ground beneath him.

It was easy to see that the four in the middle knew what was going on and no one else did.

I walked over to Nudge and Gazzy. Nudge greeted me with a little smile, patting the space beside her. I sunk into the grass and sprawled my legs out in front of me.

"Nudge," I started, looking over at her. "What do you think about adding to the flock?"

"You want Silver to join," She said. It wasn't a question.

"I don't know," I murmured, rolling my ankles in small circles. "The flock is very tense right now,"

"Yeah," she sighed. "We all just need a little break."

"Did I cause this?" I asked, suddenly aware that maybe I was the reason everything was falling apart. Nudge was silent for a while, probably lost in thought.

"No," she stated, finally making up her mind. "This would have happened sooner or later."

"What is _this_?" I asked.

"We can't split up the way we did and then expect to be a perfect family again. We have to get to know each other again. We all changed a lot when we split, but I don't think anyone has realized that yet," she said in a sad voice.

"Yeah," Gazzy agreed from above.

"How?" I asked, curious now.

"Well, I started my period, but Max wouldn't listen when I tried to tell her," Nudge murmured.

"Iggy and Fang haven't talked to me in weeks," Gazzy whispered sadly.

"Well Nudge, you can always talk to me about that stuff and Gazzy, you should confront them. Call them out. Demand attention." I said, hoping to help them.

Nudge leaned towards me and gave me a huge bear hug. Gazzy dropped down from his branch and wrapped his arms around both of us, pulling us in tighter.

"You should talk to Iggy," Gazzy said, not letting go of us.

"He doesn't want to talk to me," I murmured, feeling a twist in my gut. It hurt to have the person I love reject me so suddenly. I didn't want to feel that again.

"Yes he does," Someone said above me. I looked up and saw Angel standing above me.

"How do you know?" I asked, doubting her statement.

"Mind reader," she said quietly. She looked at the kids around me with a sad expression. She knew what was going on, so she hadn't talked to Nudge or Gazzy in a while. I could see that she missed them. I stood up and left Angel to make up with Nudge and Gazzy.

I walked to the three teens in the middle of the clearing. Max was still in Fang's lap, her arms around his neck. Iggy was leaning his back against Fang's, his eyes closed and the cell phone still in his hands.

"Iggy, come take a walk with me," I said unemotionally. He didn't say anything, but he got to his feet and waited for me to start walking. I turned and walked to the edge of the clearing and Iggy followed the sound of my footsteps.

We walked in silence for a few minutes, side by side. I was trying to find a way to ask him what was happening.

"I miss you," I said quietly, looking down at my feet. Iggy was silent, but he slowly intertwined his fingers with mine, swinging our arms. We walked a few more minutes before he stopped, bringing me to a halt too. He looked at his feet, his shoulders slightly shaking.

"Ella was killed," He whispered. I froze, shocked.

I tried to say something, but a lump in my throat refused to let me. Iggy started to sob. It was the saddest thing I had ever heard.

I pulled him into me, stroking his hair and cradling him. I dropped to the ground, holding Iggy in my arms.

"Who did it?" I managed, running my fingers through his blonde hair.

"Your mother," he said, shaking.


	18. Chapter 18

**Hey, guys. I'm so sorry I haven't updated in a while, I'm getting really bad at that, but I'll try to do it more often. Anyway, here you go!**

"What?" I gasped. "Why didn't you tell me this before?"

"I thought that maybe if I was mad at someone, it would make this easier to handle," he said sadly."Clearly, I was wrong. It just made it worse." I thought that over for a bit.

"Were you mad at me because it was my mother who..." I trailed off, not wanting to say the words out loud. He didn't say anything, just gave a little nod.

We sat there for a second, his head resting on my shoulder. I played with his hair, thinking about how we all could use a good hair cut. His was getting a little too long for his norm.

Iggy's shoulders shook lightly as he wept silently into my sweater. I wondered why he was taking it so hard. He must've had a really strong relationship with her when she was alive.

"Iggy," I started, not sure how to ask him this. "Do you know why my mother did what she did?"

"I think she was looking for you," he said, his voice shaking. "She went to Ella's house because she knew that you had been there already, but she didn't know you had left." He paused, taking a breath. "When Max's mom wouldn't tell your mother where you had gone, she went for Ella to torture her." My hand flew up to my mouth and I squeezed my eyes closed, trying not to cry. Why would she do that? Is she really that desperate to find me?

"But there's something else I need to tell you," he said in a quiet voice. "It's about when we were at Dr. Martinez's house."

I waited, preparing myself for the worst possible thing.

"It was three days before we left. I was sitting in the living room, waiting for you to get out of the shower. Someone came and sat down next to me, but I couldn't be positive about who it was, they didn't talk. I thought maybe it was you, but I waited to hear something. Suddenly the person kissed me. The kiss didn't feel like yours, but I thought that maybe you were having an off day." he paused, letting the information sink into my brain. I was numb all over. He continued, "But when the kiss stopped, the person didn't say anything. I waited, and then I heard a door open and footsteps. You asked Ella where your backpack was, but your voice was from across the room. Ella answered beside me, making it obvious who had just kissed me..." he finished, trailing off suddenly. I let in the info and thought over my options. I could freak out at him and break up with him right here or I could forgive him and put him on probation.

I was thinking over the first option and about the pain I would have from losing him. I didn't want to feel that all the time.

"Okay," I said, not sure what to say.

"Legend, I'm so sorry, I thought it was you, please forgive me." He said quickly, taking my hands. I sighed.

"You're on probation," I said. "But you're forgiven."

He sighed with relief and pulled me into his arms. I melted into his warm embrace and nuzzled my face into his shoulder.

"I'm so sorry," he whispered in my ear.

"Don't screw up, though," I joked, ruffling his hair.

"I won't, I swear it," he said very seriously.

"Good," I murmured, laying my head on his chest.

I quickly fell asleep in his lap, in the middle of the woods.

**Please, please, **_**please**_** review! Love you guys! **


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